How To Register Your Business In The Philippines
This article is posted under Business, General Information.What are the Philippine government agencies that you need to register with when starting a business?
Remember that it is important to register your business to avoid any legal problems once business operations start. Furthermore, it’s common practice for competitors to check on you if you have all the necessary registrations completed because if not, this will be an opportunity for them to disrupt and delay your operations by notifying the proper authorities.
Below are the government agencies that you have to contact in order to give your business a legal personality.
Depending on the structure of your business, your first step is to get a certificate of registration for your business name in one of these agencies:
- Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – for single proprietorship
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – for partnerships or corporations
- Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) – for cooperatives
After getting your certificate of registration, you will need to visit the following offices:
- Homeowners Association – for businesses inside villages and subdivisions, you need to get a homeowner’s clearance
- Barangay Hall – secure a barangay clearance to operate your business
- Local Government Unit (LGU) – visit the municipality or city hall office and process your business permit
- Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) – apply for a business taxpayer identification number (TIN), register your books of accounts, point-of-sales (POS) machines and receipts
At this point, you may now legally start your business operations, but you’ll need to then register your employees (which may include yourself) to the following agencies:
- Social Security System (SSS) – secure an SSS number for yourself and your employees
- Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) – for businesses with five workers or more, register your business with DOLE
- Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) – as required by RA 7742, SSS members earning at least P4,000 a month must be registered with HDMF. This agency administers the Pag-Ibig Fund.
- Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) – all employers of are required to register their employees to this agency as stated in the New National Health Insurance Act (RA 7875 / RA 9241). PhilHealth manages and administers the government health care system.
Furthermore, there are certain businesses that are required to secure a special clearance, permit or license from selected government agencies. Check if your business falls under any of the categories below and note the document that you need to secure and where to get it.
- Animals, animal products, animal facilities, veterinary drugs: registration certificate from the Bureau of Animal Industry
- Aquatic animals, importation, fishpond lease agreement: permit from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR)
- Fertilizer products, pesticide products: registration certificate from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (DA-FPA)
- Fiber, fiber products processing and trading: registration certificate and commodity clearance from the Fiber Development Authority (DA-FIDA)
- Film and television production and distribution: registration certificate from the Movie & Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)
- Firearms, ammunition and explosives: permit from the Firearms and Explosives Division of the Philippine National Police (FED-PNP)
- Food, chemicals, health related business: registration certificate from the Bureau of Food and Drugs, Department of Health (DoH-BFAD)
- Flour, corn and grains related business: operations and license from the National Food Authority (DA-NFA)
- Pawnshop, lending and finance related businesses: registration certificate from the Central Bank of the Philippines, Department of Finance (DoF-BSP)
- Plants and plant products: nursery accreditation, registration, seed and phytosanitary certificates from the Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI)
- Recruitment or placement agency for foreign employment: registration certificate from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Department of Labor (DOLE-POEA)
- Recruitment or placement agency for local employment: registration certificate from the Bureau of Local Employment (DOLE-BLE)
- Schools, technical-vocational and other educational institutions: registration, accreditation and permits from the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) or from the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (DOLE-TESDA)
- Security agency business: permit from the Philippine National Police, Department of Interior & Local Government (DILG-PNP)
- Meat plant and slaughterhouse operations: accreditation and registration certificate from the National Meat Inspection Commission (DA-NMIC)
- Mining, quarrying, logging, waste management and related businesses: permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
- Motor vehicles, automotive & heavy equipment, engineering, electronics, electrical, office & data equipments, medical & industrial equipment, appliances & devices: accreditation license from the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (DTI-BTRCP)
- Real estate projects: register with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLRUB)
- Sugar, muscovado, sugar-based products and related businesses: registration certificate from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (DA-SRA)
- Telecom business: license from the National Telecommunication Commission, Department of Transportation & Communication (DOTC-NTC)
- Tourism-related projects: registration and accreditation certificate from the Department of Tourism (DOT)
- Transportation: permits from the Land Transport Franchise & Regulatory Board (DOTC-LTFRB) or Maritime Industry Authority (DOTC-MARINA)
- Video production, sales and rental: accreditation from the Optical Media Board, Office of the President (OPOMB)
There may be other special registrations needed for other businesses that were not mentioned above. It’s best to ask the Department of Trade and Industry for any specific inquiries regarding this matter.
Registering your business legally in the Philippines is not a difficult task. It may seem confusing at first but there are always help desks and assistance available in these agencies in case you get lost in the process.
Moreover, I shall try to cover the registration process for each agency in greater detail in the near future. If you wish to be notified through email when those articles are posted, then please subscribe to Ready To Be Rich.
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Photo courtesy of marky
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Hi, my name is Fitz and this is my blog on personal finance.
Nice reminders, Fitz. Just hope these government agencies can find more effective ways to check that this businesses are really complying with the rules, especially when it comes to the safety of their customers.
I will be looking forward for the next part-series, as I am really now enjoying reading business related posts.
Who knows, I may be the next Henry Sy…lol!
what a detailed post!!! nice one fitz!!
Thanks Angel and ChiQ!
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sir, i’m planning to set up a local manpower agency. Can you tellme what are the steps? requirements? thanks in advance….
hi sir/ maam,
me and my husband planning to set up a business in Philippines soon, we need help how to get a licence and how we can register our business, i did saw that u are doing it so if i can ask how much your charge for registering and how long it takes and we need help where to get a licence after we did the registration.pls email me for some info, thanks
sir i just want to ask something regarding with my business before, my business was still registered at DTI but my business was not existing already and also i don’t even closed my business permit?…but I’m planning to have a business again, what step should i do first?
Hi jeofrey,
Are you reopening the business on the same location? Then just process the city business permit and you’re fine.
If you’re opening the business in another location but you’ll be using the same business name, then you need to change the registered address in your DTI and then process the city business permit.
Hope this helps.
My local DTI office says they serve all of Oriental Negros. I’m assuming I can though still be able to register businesses with names relating to other cities in the Philippines from this same local office as long as the main address of record for each one is in Oriental Negros?
I can’t imagine I’d have to go to Davao just to register a business name like (for example) “Davao Imports” as long as the main office is in Oriental Negros.
(I hope)
Hello. I just dropped by this page and it’s so detailed. Really makes sense especially for those who are just starting up with their ideas and plans to do their own business. Thank you..
Sir,
How much you are charging for a Business Permit fees ?
Thanks,
Rene
Im interested in setting up a local manpower agency.Do you know were
can I attend for a seminar?
Thanks
sir, i’m planning to set up a local manpower agency with four to five employees. Can you tellme what are the steps? requirements? thanks in advance….
sir, we are about to start a home based business with my friends. we are four in a group and we wanted to generate our own product based on what we have learned at school. but we are not sure what permits should we get and do we still have to register our name to DTI / SEC? please help us on what should we have to do. we are fresh college grads and we basically don’t know anything about legalizing the business. thanks a lot sir
Sir,
I have friend requireed filipino workers, so it make me thought to open my own manpower agency. How and what are the requirments needed to set-up this business?
Thanks!
I am interested in opening a resteraunt in the philippines do i have to have a filipino partner if i lease or rent and do not purchase the property
Triple I Consulting can help in any business registration requirements in the Philippines. Handling the complete registration process as well as government licenses and additional requirements required depending on the nature of your business.
Visit Us:
Triple I Consulting Inc
@Eric
Hi Eric,
You do not need a filipino partner if you wish to lease land for a restaurant. You can register a sole proprietorship in the Philippines and if you are willing to put up $200,000 USD in capitalization you can have it 100% foreign owned.
You can also register a 100% foreign owned corporation with $200,000 USD capitalization which can even be reduced if you will introduce new technology or employ 50 direct employees.
You can contact Triple I Consulting for all inquires on investment in the Philippines.
sir,
Is it true if I’m a foreigner I can invest at worth $10,000 but I have to give my employees all the benefits like sss, philhealth or simply the required benefits, how true is this?, and is their other means or way I can invest with just minimum capital like $10,000.
hope to hear from you because this is really enticing.
Thanks!
@nima
Hi Nima,
Foreigners can invest in many ways in the Philippines with only $10,000. However if they want their business to be 100% in their ownership they’ll need more money for capitalization.
They can certainly set up a corporation in the Philippines with Filipino directors and partners, if they use nominated directors properly they will still retain full control and almost full ownership of their company.
The capitalization can be used for anything, it should be used to pay for the companies related expenses, but can be issued out as an advance to the directors(just pulling the money back out).
For more details email us at info at Triple I Consulting
I totally agree that business registration here in the Philippines is not an easy task. It requires a lot of time and effort in order to accomplish all the papers needed to start a business. Well, this post really helps!
business registration here in the Philippines has something to do with corruption, if you want your business permit to be accomplished at any moment, then money can talk….
I am planning a restaurant business in the Philippines, but is there any required minimum finance needed in order for me to set up my business?
Whay is it a foreign investor neeed more money for capitalization in order to gain the 100% of thier business?
@business registration philippines
You should check your spelling, but a foreigner is required to place more foreign investment because they associated risks involved with foreign nationals investing here.
Wow There are so many Requirements that is needed in order to register your business but I’m still proud of having the business legal because of registering it
Capital Requirement is also important part of registration. Amount is listed as 5000 php, but SEC will not allow you to submit a company for less than 100,000 Php.